Fire Fighter Charity helps Gosport colleague who suffered heart attack during gruelling 20 peaks in 20 days fundraiser for the good cause

Sean Ratcliffe, 52, was joined in June by his colleague Jason Haste, 40, as the pair aimed to climb the 20 highest peaks in the UK in under 20 days in aid of The Fire Fighters Charity.

Both men trained hard and had passed their operational fitness test as firefighters just weeks before.

However, after completing the 15th peak and resting for the night in Aviemore, Scotland, Sean collapsed without warning – paramedics confirmed he’d suffered a heart attack.

Jason, a crew manager at Havant Fire Station, said: ‘If we’d been up a mountain at the time, we’d have been in big trouble.

‘We decided between us, especially given I was doing the walk for mental health reasons, that I should continue the challenge while Sean was recovering. I’d drop in daily for a few hours to see him, and continued with the final peaks.’

Sean, a whole-time firefighter at Gosport Fire Station and an on-call firefighter at Eastleigh fire station, is now recovering well, but facing a long stint off work he contacted The Fire Fighters Charity for support – he is now being helped by its Welfare Team.

The charity supports serving and retired fire and rescue service personnel, their dependants and other eligible members of the UK fire services community.

Sean has been helped by the charity three times over his career, first in 1999 when he broke his wrist, then in 2008 when he lost everything, including his house.

Sean said: ‘And finally in 2010, we lost two firefighters in the Shirley Towers fire. I was quite involved, but it wasn’t until a year later that I realised I was really struggling and I was referred to Harcombe House, the charity’s centre in Devon, for a recuperation break in 2011 – just to get away.’

Jason, meanwhile, completed 19 peaks in 14 days, but decided to leave the last one to instead help Sean and his family.

Together, and with the support of another colleague, Scott Avery, they’ve raised more than £1,800 for The Fire Fighters Charity.

To support the fundraiser, go to justgiving.com.